1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adjustable vehicle seat for use with a passive seat belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 2 shows an arrangement including an adjustable vehicle seat and a three-point passive seat belt for an occupant of the seat. FIGS. 3 and 4 show a prior art adjustable front seat which can be employed in the arrangement of FIG. 2. The seat includes a seat back 101 and a seat cushion 103. The seat back 101 is swingably or pivotally installed at the lower end joining portion on the rear end joining portion of the seat cushion 103. The seat cushion 103 is slidably installed by way of a seat slide rail 113 on a vehicle floor 115.
A retractor 105 is arranged on the inboard side of the seat at the junction of the seat back 101 and seat cushion 103 and is installed on a bracket 107. The bracket 107 is in turn secured by way of a bracket 109 and with bolts 111 to a seat slide rail 113. The retractor 105 and brackets 107, 109 are covered by a trim member 117 to improve the appearance. An end of a webbing (shoulder webbing) 119 is rolled up by the retractor 105. In this connection, description is made only of the shoulder webbing for brevity though the webbing 119 further includes a lap webbing. The other end of the webbing 119 is connected to a slider 121. The slider 121 is installed in a guide rail 123 and slidable along the same. The guide rail 123 is installed on a vehicle body and extends along an edge of an opening 127 which is opened and closed by a door 125. The slider 121 is adapted to be driven by a motor (not shown) rearwardly into a seat occupant restraining position "DC" as indicated by the solid lines and forwardly into a seat occupant liberating position "DO" as indicated by the two-dot chain lines in FIG. 2.
A problem of the above described prior art arrangement is that the shoulder webbing 119 is liable to be inserted between the joining portions of the seat back 101 and seat cushion 103 and held tightly or compressedly between them to obstruct the movement of the slider 121. By experiments conducted by the applicants, it was found that the problem results from the fact that the seat back 101 in a forwardly inclined position is pressed at a lower end portion 31 upon the seat cushion 103.
If the webbing 119 is held compressedly between the joining portions of the seat back 101 and seat cushion 103, the slider 121 may become slower in movement or in some cases may stop moving half way to a predetermined position. For example, when the seat back 101 is in a forwardly inclined position and the door 125 is opened in order that a rear seat occupant can get out of a two-door vehicle, the webbing 119 may possibly be inserted between the joining portions of the seat back 101 and seat cushion 103. The door 125 may then be closed with the seat back 101 placed in a forwardly inclined o position. When the above is the case, the slider 121 which is driven automatically rearward in response to closure of the door 125 stops moving half way to the seat occupant restraining position since the shoulder webbing 119 is caught between the seat back 101 and seat cushion 103. Under this condition, the shoulder webbing 119 may partially extend behind the seat back 101 to make it impossible for the driver to turn the seat back (front passenger) 101 rearward into an upright or rearwarly inclined position.